New Delhi: With Pakistan considering shutting down its airspace for India, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said here Thursday that the country had already had ‘that experience’ recently and will put in place systems to deal with any challenge. He, however, said he does not want to anticipate developments in this regard.
Hardeep Singh Puri’s comments came after Pakistan Foreign Office’s spokesperson Mohammad Faisal told media in Islamabad earlier in the day that they could order the closure of the country’s airspace for India ‘at a time of its choosing’. He, however, added that no decision was taken so far.
“Every country will take its own measures… We were subjected to that experience recently and we will put in place systems and measures designed to deal with the issues and challenges,” Puri stated.
Pakistan has already closed (from August 28 till August 31) three aviation routes in the Karachi airspace, the country’s civil aviation authority said Wednesday.However, closure of these routes has not affected the operations of Indian airline companies.
“I see all kinds of statements coming out from different parts of commentators, people, etc. All I can tell you is that the Aviation Secretary and I keep discussing these issues. We do not want to anticipate developments, and that would also not be correct,” Hardeep Singh Puri said while addressing a press conference after a media workshop.
It should be stated here that Pakistan had fully closed its airspace February 26 after an Indian Air Force strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in Balakot.
By the time it opened its airspace July 16, Air India had suffered losses of around Rs 500 crore as it had to reroute many of its flights from Delhi to US and Europe.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had said Wednesday that no decision has been arrived at yet to close the airspace for India and any such step would be taken after looking into each and every aspect of the move through consultation.
PTI